The Resurrection Stone
by bruce2112
Summary: Corpse Bride movie sequel: Will Victor finally end up with the right girl this time? ... A Victor and Emily romantic adventure as the Corpse Bride story continues.
1. Prologue: A Figure in the Moonlight

**Prologue: A Figure in the Moonlight**

"Wait," Victor said. "I made a promise."

Emily stopped and turned around. "You kept your promise," she replied. "You set me free."

She pulled Victor's ring from her finger and placed it in his hand, then folded his fingers gently over it.

"Now I can do the same for _you_."

Emily looked into his eyes for another moment or two, and then she turned and walked slowly towards the open door of the church. As she did, a feeling of peace grew inside her – she was really and truly free … free at last.

Two steps from the door, the corpse girl paused and lifted her face towards the full moon shining brightly in the misty night sky. She stood there for a few seconds, then looked back towards the couple standing at the back of the church.

Emily glanced at the moon again, then down at the bundle of dried flowers she carried and, on impulse, she threw it behind her blindly, in the old tradition.

Someone caught it and gasped, and then gasped again. But it didn't sound like Victoria…

Behind her the Maggot cackled, another gasp, and the rustle of flying flowers once more.

Then silence. Someone else must have caught it…

She looked back again: this time, Victoria was holding the bouquet.

Emily smiled faintly and turned away. Three steps later, she stopped, waiting...

… then it happened.

A wave of joy swept through her, and she closed her eyes and sighed in rapture as the bright, beautiful blue light bloomed to consume her, and she felt her body dissolve …

… into something like winged jewels …

… a fluttering sapphire swarm of bright blue butterflies.

And she (they) swirled around and around: a living whirlwind flying from the church.

Emily's spirit, freed at last, soared with them into the night. Through a thousand tiny eyes, she could see the landscape below, and she looked downward at the world she was leaving forever.

The old stone church gleamed in the moonlight below, and she could see someone trudging up the path towards it. The figure paused as it spotted the butterflies, and it turned its face upward for a better look.

The man's face was a familiar one – mutton-chop whiskers and piercing blue eyes filled with determination and purpose – lit clearly by the light of the moon as he stared up at the brightly colored swarm. A white captain's hat sat well back on his head.

"Emily," he whispered.

She paused - her purpose here was not finished, after all. No, not yet.

Reluctantly, she turned away from the Light while the butterflies flew on...


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Wounded Men**

_(Three years later...)_

In the little village where Victor lived, it was the custom of the recently bereaved to gather wildflowers after Sunday church and place them on the new graves. He was not alone in this - since the epidemic of the previous year there were a number of such graves and many survivors who were still in their periods of mourning.

But at least it was a nice day to go out for a walk. With the early coming of spring the flowers were blooming and the smells and sounds of new life filled the bright sunlit air.

When Victor arrived at the cemetery he first visited the graves of his in-laws, the Everglots, who had been one of the first ones lost. He spent an appropriate amount of time paying his respects to them and then he moved on to the grave of the loved one he missed the most:

_Victoria Everglot-Van Dort _

_Age 26 years._

_Beloved wife of Victor Van Dort _

_The Lord is my Shepherd_

He had only been married to her for two short years when the sickness had fallen upon the village like an early killing frost, mowing down the young and old alike. Victoria had worn herself down in a desperate fight to save her parents and, just when it had seemed like the epidemic had finally run its course, she had taken sick as well and, forty-eight hours later, she was gone.

Gently, he placed a fresh bundle of brightly colored flowers on the raw earth. The tears welled up again in his eyes, he collapsed on her grave, and he wept.

Eventually, he ran out of tears and it was time for him to go.

But there was one more grave to visit - one that lay just outside of the main part of the graveyard.

And Walter was there as usual. Even more so than Victor, he was faithful to this custom. He was out here every single day and for him the mourning period had never ended.

Victor walked up to him and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Good day, Walter," he said quietly.

The older man looked up. "Hello, Victor." Then he looked back down at the grave of his own loved one:

_Emily M. Barrett_

_Age 18 Yrs_

_Beloved Daughter_

_Gone but not Forgotten_

"You should try going to church too," Victor said. "It helps, you know..."

The Captain looked up and studied Victor's red-rimmed eyes. "Does it, now?" he asked bitterly.

Victor changed the subject. "I brought some lunch for us. Ready to go when you are."

"A few more minutes."

Victor nodded and he retreated from the grave to give the old man his privacy.

Eventually, Walter rejoined him. "The beach?" Victor asked.

"Aye," the Captain replied, and they started to walk.

The beach was not close as far as walking was concerned, but neither man was in a hurry. The beautiful weather made it a pleasant walk and the two men had a good visit on the way.

Victor had made his acquaintance with Walter shortly after that night in the church. Apparently, Walter had returned to town himself that very night on a mission of vengeance, a mission that had been cut short when his quarry had died first.

Victor thought back to the night three years before when they first met...

About a month after the wedding, in the middle hours of the evening, there had been a knock on the Van Dort family's front door.

"Who could that be?" Victoria asked her husband.

He didn't know. "But I'll go see."

Victor opened the door. Standing there was an older gentleman with bushy white mutton-chop whiskers and a white captain's hat.

"Ah, Captain Barrett, I presume?" Victor greeted him. "Come in, come in."

The Captain nodded, then he stepped inside and took off his coat.

"What can we do for you tonight?" Victor asked.

The Captain didn't reply, but looked in Victoria's direction.

"Victoria, my dear," Victor said, taking the hint. "The Captain and I will be chatting in my study. Don't bother waiting up for me."

She started to say something, but thought better of it and, after a quick goodnight kiss, retreated upstairs to bed.

The men adjourned to Victor's study and they made themselves comfortable

"So ... what can I do for you tonight?" Victor asked the Captain.

"I was hoping that you could tell me more about that night."

"The one at the church?"

Walter nodded.

Victor sighed. "I don't quite know how to tell it. It won't be easy to believe."

The Captain shook his head. "My own little girl comes out of her grave and almost marries a man in the town church, attended by thirty or forty guests who themselves have temporarily returned from the dead. If I can believe that…"

"Well, it happened," Victor said defensively.

Walter held up his hand. "I believe you," he said. "I got the story from the Crier, whom I would trust with my own life. He said he was there and that he saw it all."

Victor nodded. "That's true. He was. And he did."

"Well, then," the Captain continued, "I don't think that there will be a problem in the believing of it. But I need to know …"

"… The full story of how I came to know your daughter," Victor finished.

Captain Barrett nodded. "I got part of it from the Crier, but most of the story only you can tell."

"True enough," Victor agreed. "And for her sake I'd be happy to tell it to you."

"I'd appreciate that, Mr. Van Dort," said the Captain. "And likewise I could tell you a few things about her."

"Victor."

"Pardon me?" Walter asked.

"Victor. Please. Call me Victor. And where would you like me to start, Captain Barrett?"

"My own friends call me Walter," said the Captain, "And the beginning is as good a place to start as any..."

Victor gathered his thoughts and then he began to talk. He told the older man about his wedding arrangements and laughed along with him as he recounted that long ago rehearsal gone dreadfully wrong...

When he got to the part about the vows in the woods, he paused.

"What's wrong?" the Captain asked.

Victor took a deep breath. "This part of the story is a bit gruesome and ... "

"Don't try to spare my feelings," Walter said. "I'm not a stupid man. Nor am I squeamish. I've seen my share of the dead in my day... "

"But ... your own daughter, sir."

"Aye," he answered, "and I'll be that way myself some day, as will you..."

Victor took another deep breath and then continued.

"After I had said my 'vows', I placed the ring over what I had thought was a tree branch low to the ground. But it turned out to be the hand of a dead girl reaching from out of her grave. Your daughter, sir."

"Aye," the Captain said, lowering his face. "The men I had hired did a poor job, and I left before they were done. And 'twas years before I returned..."

Victor nodded, and then he continued. "At that point she came right out of the ground. Of course, not knowing her then, I was frightened and I bolted, running for my very life…"

"Go on," the old man prompted.

"I had made it nearly to town before she caught up to me at the old stone bridge. Then, after that..."

Victor paused again. The Captain waited for him to continue.

"This is the part where it really gets hard to believe," the younger man said.

"Try me," Walter replied.

"All right, then. Well - she moved forward to embrace me and I fainted there and then..."

Victor looked at his guest, and then he took yet another deep breath. "When I reawakened we were no longer in this world. It was not heaven, nor was it hell, nor purgatory - it was another place altogether. And to this day I don't honestly know if it was a vision or whether I was really there. It certainly wasn't the afterlife that I had been led to expect..."

"I've lived long enough to know that the world is a strange and surprising place," the Captain commented. "Who knows? And what does it matter? The good Lord doesn't always explain his workings to the likes of us."

"No, I suppose not," Victor said. "Like I was saying, this place was ... different. It was populated by the dead - both the recently departed and those who were but skeletons."

"And my daughter was one of the dead folk?"

"Yes, sir."

"Please, Victor ... call me Walter," the Captain said.

"Yes, Walter. Emily was one of them. I can only guess that every one of them had a reason for tarrying between the two worlds. For example, do you remember Alfred? Dapper fellow, big moustache? He was married to a lady named Gertrude..."

The Captain smiled. "Ah, old Alfred... Yes, I remember him."

Victor continued. "I suppose that he was waiting for his wife to pass on. She did a year or so later, of course, and I would guess that they crossed over to wherever they went together."

"A reasonable theory," Walter agreed.

"And Emily … she was waiting for her true love to come along and marry her..."

The older man nodded. "That would be her. Her dearest dream was to find and marry her true love, even from when she was a little girl."

"And when I came along..."

"You'd have been her second chance. And she took it - seeing how old Bart didn't work out so well... "

"Who?"

The Captain narrowed his eyes and gave Victor a hard look. "Who do you think?"

"I'm sorry, Walter. We knew him by a different name."

"Well, Bart - or Barkis - or whatever he called himself, certainly wasn't the one. And I knew that from the moment I laid eyes on him, but couldn't convince her otherwise..."

Victor nodded, and then he picked up the conversation. "So ... as far as she was concerned we were married, and I've never seen anyone happier - living or dead. But all I could think of at that point was how to get home so that I could marry Victoria. So I came up with this story about wanting to introduce her to my parents."

"And she believed it?" Walter asked.

"She did. To this day I'm ashamed for the deception, but I wanted to get back to Victoria again."

The Captain sighed again. "She always was a trusting soul. She was 18 when she died, you know, and even at that age she still had a bit of the child left in her. And that proved to be her undoing..."

Victor nodded. "So she and I returned to the 'Land of the Living' for what she thought was to be a short visit. I had her wait there in the forest while I sneaked back to see Victoria. Your daughter discovered the ruse, of course, and she found me and dragged me back to her own world."

"You didn't try to escape again?"

Victor stopped and looked off into the distance. He scratched his head and paused. "Things were ... different. After that."

"How so?"

"I remember how beautifully she danced in the moonlight. How happy she was to be in our world again. And the way she laughed when she saw the butterfly that night."

"She loved butterflies, even as a child," the old man recalled.

"And then there was the piano... "

"She did play beautifully, didn't she?" Walter remarked.

Victor nodded. "She certainly did. There was one down there - believe it or not - and, after I had abandoned her, she visited it - to take comfort in the sound of it, I suppose." He paused. "I went there to see where the music was coming from and it was her, of course. And we sat together at it and played."

Walter nodded. "And that's when you fell in love with her - wasn't it?"

He read the answer in Victor's eyes.

The Captain smiled sadly. "I'm happy to know that she found love at last, even for such a short time," he said. "She deserved that much..."

"Please don't tell Victoria," Victor pleaded. "She's been through enough already..."

"Of course not. But I'm sure she already knows," the Captain replied. "Women tend to be wise that way..."

The two men fell silent.

"How was it that you and Emily arranged to be married?" the Captain asked at length. "You were betrothed to the Everglot girl - that's why you'd made your escape to begin with…"

"True," Victor replied. "But while I was gone, her parents found another suitor for her and I'd thought that I had lost her."

"The other suitor. That would be our old acquaintance 'Lord' Whats-His-Name?"

The younger man nodded. "Yeah, him."

The Captain shook his head. "The Everglots never did have much sense..."

"Amen to that," Victor breathed.

The two men laughed.

Victor continued. "I could that see that Emily had feelings for me and I didn't want to hurt her any more than I had already. And she was a sweet, wonderful girl."

"And by that time you had fallen for her?"

The younger man nodded. "The thing about her - as strange as it may seem with her being dead ... was that in all my life before that - and even to this day, I have never met anyone who was so alive."

"I know," Walter said quietly.

"So I agreed to marry her and we returned to the Land of the Living for the ceremony."

"And that's the point at which the Crier started when he told the tale to me," the Captain said. "The rest of the story I believe I know."

Victor nodded.

"I do have the one regret, though."

"What's that?" asked Victor.

Walter sighed. "I wish that I had been there that night."

"And why is that?" the younger man asked. "Wouldn't you rather remember her the way she was when you saw her last?"

"The way I saw her last was when she was lying stiff and pale and dead in her funeral shroud," growled the Captain. "No. There were things that I would have liked to have told her. Things that I will never have the chance to say..."

"Never is a long, long time," said Victor. "There is a next world after this one. Perhaps you'll see her there. If there is anything that I learned from my adventures in the other world is that death is not the end of us."

"Aye," murmured the older man. "You're right, I suppose. But I still would have liked to have gotten my hands on the animal that killed Emily..."

A grim look passed across Victor's face. "You'll not have to worry about justice for him, sir. As you no doubt know, when the man died the dead dragged him back to whatever world it was they came from. Your daughter was very well thought of down there and I have no doubt that they will have been very ... diligent ... in settling that account."

"I guess that's true enough," the Captain conceded

The two men fell into a comfortable conversation and only when the morning light finally came did either of them realize that the night had come and gone.

There had been many more conversations and many visits since then, and after Victoria's death the bond between him and Walter had tightened.

Their destination was a small shelter placed just above the high-water mark halfway down the beach. The Captain had built it here so that he could sit in comfort while he listened to the crashing of the surf and gazed out over the waves as they came in to break themselves over the beach. Whatever time he didn't spend at the graveyard he spent here.

Victor shared the lunch and chatted briefly with the old man before he made the long trip back to his own house.

The Captain made himself comfortable and prepared to resume his vigil by the seashore.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: On the Beach**

It wasn't the same as being at sea, Walter knew, but it was the next best thing. At least here he could be close to the water.

He liked the sea - it was the only place that he knew of where a man could think and feel completely free. Love alone had pulled him ashore and the two years he had spent with Martha had been the happiest of his life.

But she had died having Emily and at that time, in his grief, Walter had gone back to the sea, leaving the infant behind with his older sister.

Foolish man that he'd been, it had taken him years to forgive the wee thing for her mother's death … as if she'd had anything to do with it… And it was only his sister's final illness that had brought him back again, for there was no one else to keep the child.

He had tried to harden his heart towards her, but he saw too much of Martha in the girl and he had come to love her.

For her part, it had been hard for her to adjust to this gruff stranger who had taken the place of her beloved Auntie. But, in time, she had come to love him, too.

They were that rare thing: not only father and daughter, but also the best of friends - and life was good.

Until the day that wretched creature had come into their lives…

Walter sighed and pulled out the letter. It had been folded and re-folded so many times that it was no longer readable, but he carried it with him like a talisman and had read it often enough that each and every word was burned into his soul.

He sighed, re-folded the scrap of paper, and then put it away.

How clearly he remembered the day she had brought him home! And how proud she was of him, as though she had found something special among the ranks of common men. Though, like all girls' fathers, he was apprehensive, he had been hopeful that she indeed had found a worthy young fellow.

She hadn't.

The Captain's years at sea had schooled him well in the reading of the winds and waves and of the faces of men. And he hadn't liked what he saw in the face of the one who stood before him. But the Captain was a diplomatic man and he had held his peace until after their visitor had left.

"What do you think of him?'' his daughter asked him anxiously.

He paused and looked into the distance.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" he asked.

"Of course I do," she said indignantly.

"I don't care for him," he said. ''Not one bit.''

She was shocked. And hurt. "But why not?"

He had answered her as gently and as truthfully as he could. And, of course, she hadn't believed him...

She had tried weeping, pleading, and arguing with him, but he had seen too many times what happened when good women took up with bad men, and he was determined to spare her that fate. Finally, he had put his foot down and forbade her to ever speak of him again.

"Some day you will thank me for this," he had told her as she wept and raged before him. He was to leave the next morning for a short trip, but promised to be back in time to take her to the Sunday morning service.

On a chilly morning four days later, his errand complete, he returned home to a cold and empty cottage. Emily was nowhere to be seen but he had found the letter placed neatly in the center of the empty table:

_"Dearest Daddy,_

_Please forgive me but by the time you read this letter we shall be married. Bart is a wonderful man and I'm sure that once you get to know him like I do that you'll love him too. He has to take care of some business so we'll be gone for a few days but will be back as soon as we can. I hope that you can forgive us for disobeying you, but I know that we are meant to be together. Please don't be too angry. Love forever,_

_Emily & Bart"_

He read the note through quickly, and then jammed it into his pocket and rushed to the closet - to that place where his most precious possession, his dead wife's wedding dress, had been lovingly kept all these years.

It was gone.

He had taken off in hot pursuit but made it only as far as the old cemetery, where he had found his daughter's lifeless body sprawled under the old oak tree. Her 'wonderful man' had knocked her on the head and made off with her dowry, leaving her to die there alone in the woods.

There was nothing more that could be done for her, so he had had his girl hastily buried - still in her mother's gown - and then he left, vowing to neither rest nor quit until he had tracked down and destroyed the beast that had murdered his Emily.

The search had been long and difficult. Although he came close once or twice, in the end death had caught up with the culprit first. By then he was tired of always being on the move, so he had finally come home to stay…

The sound of church bells jolted him back to the present.

The Captain snorted and shook his head. Here he was - a used up old man wasting his days dreaming of things long since buried in the past.

The bells rang again. He supposed that he ought to be in the pews too, but his church-going days had ended when Emily had died.

This beach was his church now.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Gypsy Child**

Each and every morning, very early in the morning, Victor's first stop was the docks where the day's catch was brought in.

This part of his job usually took him a couple of hours, but sometimes he would finish early and have a little extra time before his driver returned with the carriage. On those days, he would take a walk further down the wharf and look at the ships moored in the harbor.

This morning there was a particularly interesting ship, a nice-looking three-masted schooner tied up at the dock and, being a finer specimen than most, it had drawn a small band of admirers who were standing around hands in pockets and talking amongst themselves.

Close by was a small gaggle of Gypsy children who stood out by their colorful costumes and by the reaction they were drawing from the group. It was not positive: Gypsies were wanderers and neither liked nor trusted by the locals.

There was a commotion from the group and Victor looked up to see what was happening. He saw nothing, but a few seconds later there was a loud splash, followed by the sound of scattered laughter.

Victor rushed over to the edge of the wharf. The Gypsy children were running back and forth panic-stricken, jabbering to each other in their strange tongue. He squinted down into the water.

"Drown 'em when they're small, and they won't steal from you when they're big," a voice called out from the crowd. More laughter.

My God thought Victor; it's a little kid! He dropped onto his stomach and reached out over the edge towards the furiously thrashing child.

"Aw, leave 'im in there," bellowed another, harshly indignant, voice. "Little beggar tried to steal my wallet!"

Victor ignored him and made his decision. He held his breath, reared up high enough on his knees and elbows to jump and then leaped into the filthy harbor water. The impact of the freezing cold seawater was like a body blow and it took his breath away, but Victor forced himself through the water towards the drowning child.

He made a grab towards him and missed, then tried again and caught a handful of clothing. He pulled hard and with the other hand swam awkwardly back to the wharf. As soon as he was within reach, he pushed the boy out of the water, against the rough edge of the dock.

Hold on to the side!" Victor yelled as the child scrambled for a grip on the slimy wood.

Victor clawed his way up onto the top surface of the dock, and then reached back over the side and hauled the child up onto the rough wooden planking next to him.

The water in the boy's lungs made him cough and he fought to breathe.

"Cough! Cough it out!" Victor barked, and he rolled the child over and pounded him furiously on the back. That helped, and the Gypsy boy managed to finally get the last of the water out and to catch his breath.

Victor rocked back on his heels. "Thank good..." he started to say, then something slammed into the side of his head. The sudden impact knocked him over, and he saw stars.

A second or two later, when he had regained his wits, he became aware of an angry young red-faced Gypsy man screaming abuse at him in his own tongue. He snatched the child up in his arms and stalked away, still shouting back at Victor as he went.

"Now there's gratitude for you," Victor heard the wallet's owner remark. "Should have left him in the drink, I say."

Victor shook his head, picked himself up, and walked back to where his driver was waiting with the carriage. He stared at his dripping boss and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Just a slight mishap," Victor explained. "Let's get going..."

Late that night there came a knock at Victor's door and, when he answered it, standing before him was the young Gypsy man from the incident at the docks, accompanied by an impressively wrinkled tiny old lady, one of the oldest-looking people he had ever seen.

"My son would like to apologize to you for his behavior today," she said by way of introduction.

The man mumbled something low-pitched and indistinct.

"That's okay," Victor said. "No harm done."

"We are very grateful to you for saving my grandson," the ancient woman said. She held out a withered hand. "Please take this as a token of our thanks."

"What's this?" Victor asked, looking down at her offering. It was a small silver amulet with a large pinkish-red stone set in the center.

She pointed to the stone. "It's called the 'Resurrection Stone'," she said.

"The what?" Victor asked.

"This is a charmed stone," she said. "One that will allow you to bring a loved one back from the dead. If you are willing to pay the price..."

Victor paused. The last thing he needed was another trinket. "No thanks, I ..."

"Take it," she insisted. Then, without another word, she and her son turned and walked away, leaving Victor standing alone on the doorstep.

Victor looked at the small silver object in his hand, and then he sighed, shook his head, and went back into his house, locking the door behind him.

The next morning came too soon for Victor, not only because of the early time, but also because he had slept very little. He could never remember a time when he had dreamed more, but had slept less.

Something about the odd couple from the previous night didn't make sense, and this bothered him.

The old lady had referred to the young man as being her 'son', but she had to have been at least ninety, probably older. The young man, on the other hand, couldn't have been older than maybe thirty, which would have made her no less than sixty years old when the son was born.

Victor had always known that the Gypsies were a strange folk, but even for them this was hard to believe...

After work the next day Victor paid a visit to Pastor Galswells.

"Ah, Mr. Van Dort," the Pastor said as he guarded the door. "What can I do for you today?"

"I have something that I'd like to ask you about," Victor answered.

"In that case, come in, come in," the churchman said. He herded Victor to a large comfortable chair in the church study, then sat down on another and leaned forward. "Now ... what is that you wanted to ask me about?" he inquired.

Victor pulled the silver object from a pocket and held it out for the other man to see. "Well, I got this from an old Gypsy lady last night and ... "

The Pastor's face turned gray and his eyes bugged out in horror. "What is that ... thing doing here?" he croaked.

Victor was startled by the Pastor's reaction. "Wh-what?" he stammered.

"That ... that ... that abomination!" the Pastor sputtered. "It doesn't belong here in the house of God... " He leapt to his feet, flailing his long arms in Victor's direction as though he were shooing away stray flies. "Get that evil thing out of here - immediately!"

Quickly, Victor gathered up the amulet and fled outside. The Pastor followed him as far as the door of the church and then stopped. "Where did you get it?" he asked in a loud, agitated tone of voice.

"F-from an old Gypsy woman," Victor stuttered. "The one that came by my house last night."

"Take it back to her, then," the Pastor thundered. "Can't you see that it's cursed? We cannot keep something like that here. In this village..."

"B-but..."

"Do it now! Take it away from here - as quickly as you can, Mr. Van Dort. And forget that you ever saw it!" And then he slammed the door in Victor's face.

Stunned, Victor could only shake his head. It was not quite the interview that he had had in mind. However, the Pastor was not one to be dismissed lightly and he had been Victor's only hope for more information on the amulet.

Unless...

He quickly made his way down to where the Gypsies had been camped. Perhaps he could get more information from them. Victor turned the last corner on the narrow path, then stood mouth open in mute surprise.

They had been there, all right - there was plenty of evidence of that - but no sign of them now. Sometime during the night, or maybe during the previous day, the nomads had pulled up stakes and gone.

Victor sighed. This wasn't a mystery that was going to be solved any time soon...

He poked around the old campfire site and checked out the debris that they had left behind, but there were no clues as to their next destination.

Eventually, he gave up and left. He had thought of simply leaving the thing there but, if the amulet really was cursed as the Pastor had claimed, then leaving it lying around wouldn't be a very good idea, either...

Back at the house, he shrugged and popped the amulet into his strongbox where it would be safe and secure until he could figure out what to do with it.

That night the dreams returned, much the same as before, but more prolonged and much more vivid. By the time the next morning arrived, poor Victor was a wreck.

The dreams continued that night, and the next, and the next. They were quite intense, at first seeming to be a random blend of unrelated events and unfamiliar people but, after a while, the dreams started to show a common theme.

They seemed to feature some magician or wizard who was always at war with some kind of unseen monster. There was also a large cast of supporting characters, each of whom had some kind of relationship with the main hero.

Finally, after a week of this, there appeared a character he did recognize.

"Elder Gutknecht," Victor said. "Am I glad to see you..."

"My boy," the Elder replied. "We have to talk."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Victor said. "Does it have to do with these dreams?"

The Elder nodded. "And with that amulet of yours," he said.

"Is that why I've been having these strange dreams?" Victor asked.

"Of course. And that's why we have to talk."

Victor was confused. "We _are_ talking..."

Elder Gutknecht shook his head. "You will have to come back with me to finish our chat."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Love is Not Enough**

"To the Land of the Dead?" Victor asked, excitement growing in his voice. "Victoria...?"

The Elder nodded.

"Is she there? How is she?" Victor asked.

Elder Gutknecht paused. "Yes, she's there and she's doing ... well."

Something about the Elder's tone of voice disquieted Victor. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

Another pause. "Not with her," the Elder said. "But we'll need to finish this talk down below."

"How am I going to be able to get there?" Victor asked.

"Wake yourself up and meet me at the stone bridge. I'll take you the rest of the way."

"Wake myself up? How do I do that?"

"Try pinching yourself," suggested Elder Gutknecht. "But don't forget - bring your amulet and meet me at the stone bridge as soon as you can."

"Okay," said Victor, and he pinched himself. Hard.

"Ouch!" he said as he woke up. "What a strange dream ..."

A half-hour later Victor arrived at the old stone bridge, carrying the amulet with him. Elder Gutknecht was there already. "Good to see you again, my boy," he said, and then he laid a bony hand on Victor's shoulder.

"Hopscotch."

Everything started to swirl about him and Victor closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he and Elder Gutknecht were standing in the Elder's study.

"That Ukrainian haunting spell's a handy thing to have," the Elder quipped, and then he turned towards Victor. "Welcome back, my boy."

The young man nodded. "Thanks," he said. "But ... could you tell me now why I'm here? And when can I see Victoria?"

The Elder held up a skeletal hand. "All in due time", he said. "But first, may I see it?"

"The amulet?"

"Yes."

Victor handed it to him and the Elder looked it over closely, muttering and talking to himself in his usual way.

Eventually, he handed it back. "This is it, all right."

"This is what?" asked Victor.

"The 'Resurrection Stone'. I was right; you do have the real thing."

Victor was puzzled. "That's what the old lady called it, too. She said something about it being able to bring people back from the dead."

Elder Gutknecht nodded. "That's right. If you're willing to accept its conditions, yes."

"That's wonderful!" Victor exulted. "Victoria…"

"Hold on, Victor," the Elder said. "We still have to talk."

"Okay," said Victor, nodding his head. "So what is this 'Resurrection Stone' and how does it work?"

"Are you ready for a story?" asked the Elder.

"I suppose..." replied Victor. "It sounds like you're about ready to tell me one."

"You're right. I am," the Elder agreed.

"In the early days of Man there lived a very wise prophet and king who was a student of nature, life, and science. He devoted his entire life to solving the mysteries of the universe and to using those discoveries for the benefit of his people.

"But he was not satisfied with uncovering the secrets of his world alone, but became obsessed with finding out what lay beyond the boundary of death itself. Using his knowledge of white magic he opened a portal between the two worlds in an attempt to call up his deceased mentor. But … instead of bringing forth his old friend, he ended up summoning a powerful demon from the underworld instead.

"Instead of admitting his mistake and seeking help from the Lord of All he tried to fight the evil thing with his own powers and was nearly killed by it.

"Finally, in desperation, he cried out for help and the Lord sent forth an archangel to rescue him - showing mercy for the sake of the king's people. Of course, the demon was defeated and forced into the jewel - into this very Stone set into the heart of your amulet."

"That's a very entertaining story," commented Victor. "But what does that have to do with me? And how can it bring back the dead?"

Elder Gutknecht continued the tale. "For his part, the king was judged for his transgression and condemned to spend the rest of time - until the Day of Judgment - as Warden of the Stone and, even to this day, he must fight a battle without end to keep the monster safely confined to its prison."

"So that's why the Pastor said it was cursed," Victor mused.

"In a way, he's right," the Elder agreed. "It is vital that the thing never be allowed to escape, for it would cause devastation both in this world and in the Land of the Living. And one thing has not changed - the Warden cannot fight the demon indefinitely in his own strength alone, but must continue to draw upon an outside source."

"Which is?" asked the younger man.

The Elder paused. "The most powerful force in this universe is the power of love and it is this force which is used to keep the demon chained and powerless inside the Stone.

"For this purpose, the Stone requires an outside Holder to channel this energy from a living soul to the Warden inside. But the Holder cannot be alive: he or she must have been dead, to be resurrected and kept alive by the life force of the Holder's mate."

"I don't understand," said Victor.

Elder Gutknecht sighed. "The Stone must be kept by a couple - one alive and the other brought back from the dead - in order to keep the Warden energized and fighting against the demon. In the course of holding the Stone, the resurrected one can continue to live in for as long as the other lives.

"When the living one dies, as all living creatures eventually must, the resurrected one will also die at that time, and the Warden inside the Stone will then require another pair to take their place. Sometimes it happens that the resurrected one dies first and the Warden again must find another couple to hold the Stone."

"So - if Victoria and I would be willing to do this - to hold this stone - I can resurrect her and bring her back with me? To live with me for the rest of my life?" Victor asked.

The Elder nodded.

Victor shouted with joy. "That's wonderful!" he exclaimed. "I can't wait to tell Victoria!"

Elder Gutknecht paused again. "She knows," he said quietly. "She's known for nearly a week."

Something about his manner bothered Victor again. "There's something you're not telling me," he said to the old skeleton.

"I'm afraid so," Elder Gutknecht confirmed. "And that is why you must go and talk to her now. She is in the lounge waiting for you - I believe that you know the place."

Victor nodded.

"I'll send for you later," the Elder said. "We will need to finish this discussion then, and quickly. We don't have much time…"

Victor walked quickly to the Ball & Socket Lounge. He never would have thought that he would be seeing Victoria again, at least not nearly this soon...

As he drew closer he heard familiar voices. It sounded like his former in-laws the Everglots, but something was different … these people were laughing. The Everglots he knew never laughed.

And then he heard her sweet voice.

"Darling!" he cried as he rushed into the place. "It's me, Victor!"

"Victor!" she smiled weakly. "Elder Gutknecht told me you were coming. It's good to see you again..."

Behind her, her parents, the Everglots fell silent and smiled at him nervously.

Something is wrong, he thought. She should be a lot happier than this to see me.

He pressed on anyway. "Has Elder Gutknecht told you the good news?"

She nodded and the smile faded from her face. "He has."

"What's wrong, Darling?" he asked her. His heart was pounding. "Please tell me."

"Oh, Victor ... I'm so sorry..."

"What!" he cried.

A look of deep regret and sadness passed across her face. "I'm not going back with you, Victor - I can't. I'm staying here."

"In the Land of the Dead?" Victor was stunned. Then he was furious.

"What have you done to her?" Victor yelled at the Everglots. "What have you told her?"

"Victor," his former wife said quietly, touching his elbow. "This was my decision, and mine alone. Mother and Father had nothing to do with it; if anything, they did their best to talk me into going back with you."

"But why?" Victor cried, broken hearted. "Don't you know how much I love you? And how much I miss you? And need you?"

A tear appeared in Victoria's eye and she nodded. "I do, Victor. If anything, it was your love that kept me going for as long as I did.

"But - darling - sometimes there are times when love is not enough. You don't know what it's like to be afraid all the time. You don't know what it's like to have the weight of life crushing you all the time. And you don't know what is like to wish for death every day because it hurts too much to live…"

Victor stood, mute. His mouth fell open. "But…?"

"You didn't know?" she asked softly. "But how could you? It was not a burden that I ever wanted you to carry. You couldn't have carried it, and so I hid it from you. Darling, it was better this way."

"Maybe we can talk to Elder Gutknecht," Victor suggested. "He'll know what to do."

Victoria shook her head. "No, Victor, I've already talked to Elder Gutknecht," she said. "And he agrees with me."

Crushed, Victor sat heavily on the nearest chair and covered his eyes.

The sound of piano music floated through the air.

Victoria came over and consoled him. "For what little it's worth, Victor, I still love you, and I always will. But I can't - and I won't - go back to your world. _This_ is my home now."

Victor sobbed.

Victoria put her hand on his shoulder and waited until he looked up. "But what will I do without you?" he asked.

She smiled a faint sad smile. "Do you hear the music? It's beautiful, isn't it?"

He nodded dumbly.

"There's somebody here who's been expecting you - someone who will be very, very happy to see you," Victoria said quietly. "She's playing the piano now... "

Like a zombie, Victor got up and walked stiffly in the direction of the music. As he walked into the room, the piano player looked up, and then abruptly stopped playing and sprang off the bench.

"Oh, Victor!" squealed Emily. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

Victor stifled a sob. "Victoria..." he moaned.

"Oh, Victor honey, I know, I know" she crooned, and she drew him close to her and held him as he sobbed.

"I'm sorry," he said at length, lifting his head from her shoulder. "I shouldn't be bothering you with my troubles."

"Sorry? For what?" Emily asked, letting him go and standing back. "Someone that you love very much has just told you that she's not coming back with you. You are upset - and rightfully so - and you need to apologize? No, Victor, in your place I'd cry, too."

Victor said nothing.

Emily walked over to the piano bench and sat down, then she looked back at him and patted the bench beside her.

"Come here ... " she told him.

He sat down beside her on the piano bench. She started playing a familiar tune and then she paused. "This is where you came in before, Victor, remember?"

Reluctantly, he added his part to hers, the very same music as he had played for her years before.

They fell into the old familiar duet and for that half minute it was like the last three years had never passed.

After they finished, Victor slumped forward, laid his head down on the piano, and sighed. "I still can't believe it."

"About Victoria?" Emily asked.

Victor raised his head and nodded.

Emily looked off into the distance for a few seconds, then she looked back at Victor. "I never had a 'best friend' when I was alive and, as you probably knew, she didn't either."

Victor nodded again.

"Well," she continued, "I was as surprised as everyone else when she arrived here, but I had the chance to get to know her over time. In fact, since then, we've become kind of 'best friends'." A mischievous expression came across Emily's face and she laughed. "We've certainly done our share of talking about you."

"Only good, I hope," Victor said with a wan smile.

"Mostly good," she smiled back. "You _are_ a man, after all."

"So she's really serious about not coming back?" Victor asked. "If anyone would know for sure, then, it'd be you..."

The smile left Emily's face and she sighed. "It's hard to give your best friend good advice when you are still in love with her husband. But ... yes, she's serious. She has her reasons..."

"What did I do wrong?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "You did nothing wrong. Victoria still loves you, and that made it all the harder for her to make the decision that she did."

"So you think that she made the right decision, then?" he asked.

Emily sighed and looked away. "Oh god, how can I answer that when you know how I feel about you? What kind of answer do you honestly expect me to give?"

The young man was at a loss for words. Emily was right - it wasn't even close to being a fair question.

"Oh, Victor," she continued. "I'd give anything to be still alive now, so I could be there for you - to comfort you myself."

Victor reached over and patted her hand. "I'm sorry, Emily, I didn't think..."

"It's okay, Victor. Miss Plum would have told me that it's a man thing."

Then she looked into his eyes and smiled. Victor smiled back.

For Emily, time slowed, and then stood still as she continued to gaze into Victor's eyes...

… And then Mayhew came into the room. "Oh, 'ello, kids," he said. "The Elder, 'e wants to see you now. You too, Miss Emily."

'Great timing, Mayhew,' Emily muttered to herself. Then she looked up. "Okay, tell Elder Gutknecht we're coming..."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Journey**

"Hello, my dear," Elder Gutknecht said to Emily as the pair came into his study. "I see that you've found Victor."

He turned to Victor. "And hello again, young man. Did you find Miss Everglot?"

The look that passed across Victor's face answered his question.

"I'm sorry, Victor. Truly I am. But she would not have been happy to return to the Land of the Living."

"That's what everybody's been telling me," said Victor. "I still find it hard to believe."

The Elder changed the subject. "So, you need to make a decision about that stone of yours. And you need to make it quickly."

"Why the hurry?" Victor asked.

"What color was that stone when you first got it?" the Elder asked.

"Pink or maybe pinkish-red," Victor answered. "Why?"

"Take a look at it now."

Victor did. "What? But it's red now." He looked up. "How can that be?"

"My boy, the color of the Stone is determined by its health. When it is at full strength it's clear like a diamond. As it loses power it will redden and the deeper the color the weaker the Stone has become. And in the short period of time that you've had the Stone it has weakened noticeably."

"What happens when it runs down completely?" Victor asked.

Elder Gutknecht shook his head. "You won't want to know. For if it does the demon will break free and a horror will be unleashed upon this world, and upon yours - a holocaust like nothing ever seen by Man."

"So the Stone must find new keepers before that happens?" Victor asked.

The Elder nodded his head. "And the time is shorter than you think. When the Stone turns black, then it will be possible for externally applied black magic to set the demon free before its time."

"What has to be done to prevent that?" Emily asked.

Elder Gutknecht paused. "A couple in love - one living and one dead - must take this Stone to the Binding Place where it was forged and say the proper vows to become anointed as the newest Holders of the Stone."

"Oh," Victor said. "And they must be a couple?"

The Elder nodded. "The love between a reunited pair is what gives the Stone its power to bind the monster."

"That's what I thought," Victor said, and he turned towards Emily. "So if Victoria can't come back with me, I'd have to find somebody else ... "

Emily bit her lip and tried hard not to look too eager. She almost succeeded.

"Emily," Victor smiled gently. "Would you be willing to return with me to the Land of the Living with me? To be my wife?"

Emily put a hand to her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh, Victor ... yes ... YES!" Then she ran forward and embraced him.

The Elder waited for the excitement to die down and then he addressed the happy couple. "Congratulations, children. I know that you'll be very happy together and I wish you all the best. But I'm afraid you'll need to get going now - time is getting short and you have a difficult journey ahead of you."

"There's one more thing," he added. "This concerns you, Victor."

"What is it, Elder Gutknecht?" he asked.

There is a price to paid by the living mate for resurrecting the dead," the Elder answered. "A very high price - one that not every one is willing to pay. Be truly sure that you love Emily before you take her back to your world."

"What kind of price are you talking about?" Victor asked.

"I don't know, exactly," the Elder said. "So I can't tell you. Just be sure of your intentions."

"I've never been surer," Victor said, smiling at her.

"Then go," the Elder said. "And good luck to you both..."

"Are you sure that you understand the map?" Emily asked Victor as he studied the sheet of paper that the Elder had given them.

"I think so," he answered. "And if not, I've still got you to ask directions for me."

"Typical man," she remarked. "I can just hear Miss Plum now..."

He grinned back at her and they fell into a comfortable walking pace.

"Emily?" he asked at length.

"Yes, Victor?"

"That night - that night when you turned into butterflies and flew away - I thought that you'd left for good and that I was never going to see you again. What happened?"

She sighed. "You know, Victor, I thought the same thing. You had set me free, and I was ready to cross over that night. And then..."

"...and then - what?" he prompted.

"Something held me back," she continued. "Somebody's face came into my mind and I'm sure that I heard him call out my name."

"Your father?" Victor asked.

Emily stopped walking and stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. "Why - yes. How did you know?"

"A lucky guess," he said. "You know, you and I - we've got a lot to talk about - a lot has happened in three years."

"But, my father?"

"Yes, your father," Victor nodded. "I've gotten to know him since I saw you last. In fact, much like with you and Victoria, we've sort of become best friends ourselves."

"Oh, how is he?" she asked, wringing her hands. "I wish I knew."

"Not well, I'm afraid," he answered. "Walter's been pining for you ever since you died. He blames himself for what happened to you and he's been punishing himself ever since."

"That's crazy," she said. "What happened to me was my own doing, and mine alone. He couldn't have changed that - if anything, he tried to talk me out of seeing that man."

"Well, parents can be like that, sometimes. But he does miss you, and he spends his days either at your grave or at the beach staring at the sea."

Emily nodded. "I was on my way, like I was telling you, and then I realized that, although I was free, that there was still some unfinished business between Daddy and I. So I decided to wait for him and when the time came..."

"You'd escort him over to the other side," Victor suggested.

"The least that I could do was to wait for him so that the first face he saw in the Land of the Dead would have been mine."

"You're a good daughter."

Emily laughed, a note of bitterness creeping into her voice. "If I really _was_ a good daughter, I'd have listened to him. And I'd be alive today."

"Now, who's being crazy?" Victor said gently. "It was your decision to make, Emily. Even _if_ it turned out to be wrong..."

"I guess..." she mumbled.

They walked awhile in silence and then Emily spoke again. "You said that you and my father are friends now."

He nodded. "He's talked a lot about you - you're one of our favorite topics."

"Mostly good, I hope," she quipped, and they both laughed.

"All good," he replied. "He still loves and misses you, you know. Even after all these years."

She sighed.

"He's a good man," Victor continued. "I like to spend time with him, and he's very entertaining. His stories..."

Emily laughed. "I know all about his stories," she said. "Who do you think had to put up with listening to them?"

They both laughed again.

Then Emily sighed and looked off into the distance. "But, you know, it's been a long time since I've heard one. I miss them too, Victor," she said wistfully.

"Ah, maybe I can help with that," he suggested. "Did he ever tell you about the time he..."

"...Stop, stop. Please, Victor … stop!" Emily cried at last. "Have some pity on a poor dead girl - I don't think that my sides can take much more..."

"So, you see," Victor said. "He hasn't changed all that much."

"In that way, anyhow," she laughed. Then she turned serious "But he's not doing so well these days, is he?"

He sighed. "No. I'm afraid he's losing ground now. I guess that he lived all those years in the hopes of catching up with Barkis and, when that was finished, there was nothing else for him to live for. He's aged at least ten more years in the three I've known him."

"I was afraid of that," she murmured. "I visit him in his dreams, you know - try to encourage him as best I can."

"He's told me about that," Victor said. "And he likes those dreams."

They fell into another silence and walked a long while without talking.

"What's on your mind, Victor?" Emily asked eventually. "It looks like you're deep in thought about something."

"Victoria," he answered. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. What about her?" she asked gently.

"I still can't understand why she doesn't want to go back. I thought that she was made of tougher stuff than that..."

"Hold it right there, Mister!" Emily snapped. Victor stopped and looked at her. She was glaring back at him - with that familiar fiery look.

Uh-oh, he thought, I'm in for it now. What did I say?

"How can you _say_ something like that?" she asked. "Victoria's one of the bravest souls I know! You of all people should know that."

"No, wait," he said. "It's just that I meant..."

"I know what you meant - and you're wrong! I wish that I was half as brave as she was…"

"Oh, yes - this coming from the girl who stepped in front of a sword to save me," he argued.

Emily shook her head. "That didn't take any courage," she said. "I was already dead - what more could he have done to me? But don't you realize what she had to go through while she was alive? And you never knew?"

"But..."

"It's not a reflection on you, Victor. I know that you would have done anything for her. I know that you loved her. And God help me, you still do." A tear welled up in her eye and rolled down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Emily. I didn't mean..."

She waved him off. "No, no. You should still love her - you haven't had time to let go of her yet. That's one of the things I love about you, Victor: you understand what loyalty means..."

She paused.

"And I'm willing to give you as much time as you need to get over her."

Victor said nothing.

"She deserves that much, Victor. I already feel like I'm stealing you from her all over again. And this time she's somebody that I know and care about.

"So be careful what you say about her - she did the best she could while she was alive and she was brave enough to do what was truly right for her. And she's dead now - her vows to you are fulfilled and she has no obligation to go back with you. Those ended when she died "

"I suppose," he agreed. "I never thought of it like that. You're right."

"Of course I'm right."

He paused. "There is one thing I've got to say, though."

"What's that?" she said cautiously.

"You're cute when you get angry. Especially when you do that glare of yours."

Emily relaxed, and then she laughed. "You're a hopeless man, Victor Van Dort." She took his arm in hers and they continued on their way.

As they walked the landscape began to change. The terrain began to slope upwards, and the ground became increasingly littered with rocks of all sizes. The roughness of the path made it very difficult for Emily, so Victor took the lead to scout out the best path for her.

Crack! "Ughh!"

Victor turned to look back at Emily. She was sprawled face-down on the ground again, with her leg broken off at the knee and the foot jammed into a crevice in the rock a pace or two behind her.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern. This was the third time in the last ten minutes.

"I hate it when I do that!" she said in annoyance. "This is really starting to bug me…"

He took a good look at the road ahead. "This ground's not going to be getting better any time soon. Maybe I should try carrying you until we get onto better ground."

She lifted herself from off the ground and hopped back to where her leg was trapped. It took her a few moments to re-connect the knee joint, and then a few more to tug and pry her foot loose again.

"I don't want to be a burden for you, Victor. I can manage."

"I know you can," he said gently. "But I want to see how well carrying you works as an alternative."

Reluctantly she let him hoist her up onto his back. "How is it?" she asked. "Am I too heavy?"

"Not at all," Victor answered.

He picked his way carefully through the rough ground until at last the obstacles thinned out and then disappeared. Carefully, he let her slide off his back and onto smooth solid ground.

"Thank you, Victor," she said

"No problem," he smiled. "Always glad to help out a damsel in distress. And you weren't heavy at all."

"Well," she commented, "we zombies do tend to be a little on the light side."

His smile disappeared. "Emily!" he scolded her with a frown, "Don't ever call yourself a 'zombie' again. You're not some kind of monster."

"But I do happen to be an animated walking corpse," she said. "What term would _you_ use?"

"Anything other than that," he muttered.

"How about 'we Barrett girls tend to be a bit on the light side'?" she teased.

"Much better," he said, and then he shook his head and grinned back at her.

They continued to walk and, at a couple of the rougher points, he took her hand to help her keep her footing. After the last stretch he kept holding onto her hand - she turned and smiled affectionately at him.

As they walked, the ground started to rise and the air got noticeably cooler. Victor was dressed only for warm weather and he commented on the change.

"It's a good thing that we, um, Barrett girls, don't feel the cold at all," Emily joked.

"Watch it," Victor warned.

She brought her bony free hand up to her mouth and giggled.

As the journey wore on, the ground continued to rise at a faster rate and the temperature dropped still more. Victor started to shiver.

Eventually, as the day drew to a close and they came to one of the few groves of cedar trees still lining the path, Victor suggested that it might be a good place to stop and spend the night. Emily agreed, as she had had enough of travelling for one day, too...

They broke off a few cedar boughs to lay on the ground to make a bed to lie on, and then Victor spread his cloak on top.

As the last of the light failed, Victor made himself as comfortable as he could on the cloak while Emily propped herself up against the nearest cedar tree and shut her eyes to rest.

The night turned cold and Victor shivered even more. He had brought only the cloak, and it was not nearly enough to keep him warm.

Eventually, he became aware of somebody leaning over him.

"Victor," Emily said very softly.

He rolled over. "Yes?"

"I can see you shivering - are you going to be able to sleep at all?"

He didn't think so; it was too cold.

"I have a suggestion, if you don't think it improper."

"What's that?" Victor asked.

"I won't be able to contribute any heat, but I'm not bothered by the cold, either. Perhaps if I lie up close to you my body could shelter you from the worst of it."

Victor hesitated.

"Victor," she said. "Don't be a prude. I know you're a perfect gentleman and, for my part, I'll try very hard not to bite..."

"Well," he smiled wearily, "with an offer like that, how can I refuse?"

"Good," Emily replied, and then she made her way carefully over to where Victor was laying and settled down on the cloak behind him.

"How does that feel?" Emily asked him.

"Like I'm being cuddled by the world's softest sack of potatoes," he answered.

She giggled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Emily's idea turned out to be a very good one. As she had hoped, the sheltering effect of her body allowed him to retain his own heat and before too long he quit shivering. Shortly after that, he fell asleep.

"Sweet dreams, darling," she murmured softly to him and then she closed her own eyes...

When Victor woke up the next morning, he was warm and comfortable. The corpse girl was still cuddling him and her good arm was draped around him. Her hand was pressed to his chest and, as he wakened, he became aware that he was clasping the long cool fingers in his own. He smiled.

"Good morning, Victor," Emily purred softly behind him. "How did you sleep?"

Victor gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. "Thanks to you, very, very well. And you?"

Emily sighed. "One of the few advantages of being dead is that I don't really need to sleep."

"So what did you do all night?" he asked.

She bent forward and kissed the back of his neck. "Mostly - I listened to you breathe." She patted his chest. "And I felt your heart beat."

From behind him, Victor heard a quiet sniffle. "It's the most beautiful thing you can imagine," she softly said.

He couldn't think of a good answer, so he squeezed her hand...

After a couple more lazy minutes Emily patted his chest again and then she withdrew her arm. "C'mon, sleepyhead," she said to him. "It's time to get moving."

Victor sighed. "If you insist," he said. "But I was just getting comfortable."

She giggled. "You've been holding my hand almost all night. I'd say you've been comfortable long enough."

Victor laughed. Then he thought of something and the smile left his face. "How's the amulet look this morning?" he asked her.

Emily rolled away from him and got up, and then she reached into the top of her dress and fished out the silver trinket. They looked at the stone together and gasped: its hue was a deep, deep blood red - nearly wine colored.

"Oh, no," Victor said. "We don't have much time. Well, one quick errand for me and we can be on our way. Just wait here and I'll be back in a minute..."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Endgame**

Victor trotted into the bushes to do his 'errand'.

He did his business quickly and was just about to turn around when he felt something very sharp prick him in the small of his back.

"Ah, Mister Van Dort," a familiar voice said. "We meet again."

The last voice in the world he had expected - or wanted - to hear...

"What do you want, Barkis?" Victor growled.

Barkis chuckled. "That would be _Lord_ Barkis to you, seeing as how I'm the one holding the knife."

"What do you want, Barkis?" Victor asked again.

"What I really want - what I really, really want," he said, "is to run this dagger through you - like I should have done back at the church - but that would be pleasure, and I'm here on business, so ... I'll settle for that silver trinket of yours."

"The what?" asked Victor.

A sharp pain shot through his back as Barkis jabbed at him. "Don't play stupid with me, Van Dort. The amulet - where is it?"

"I don't have it," Victor grated through clenched teeth.

"Ah, I guess that your dead girlfriend must have it, then. Well, let's go say 'hello' to the lovely Miss Emily."

Victor turned to go in another direction and got another painful jab in the back.

"Nice try, but I already know where she is." He named the direction. "Let's go."

Victor trudged back to the path, with Barkis and his dagger following very close behind.

"Oh Victor, I ... " Then she saw that Victor was not alone.

"Hello, my dear," Barkis smirked.

A murderous look came across Emily's face at the sound of his voice. "You again!"

"Happy to see me?"

She stared at him with pure hatred. "At least your costume's an improvement - it covers your ugly face."

"Ah, yes, that," he said, and then he pulled back the hood that covered his face.

Emily gasped and turned away.

Your friends seem to have a strange way of greeting 'new arrivals' down here. It's quite unfortunate, but my dashing good looks aren't quite what they used to be." He sighed and replaced the hood. "But, as for you - it appears to me as though your taste in boyfriends has gone downhill since we were together. Surely you can do better than that."

She glared at him. "Whomever I find is bound to be an improvement over _you_."

"Ouch," Barkis mocked. "That hurts."

Then he continued. "But I'm afraid I'm not here to socialize, as lovely and as charming as you may be, my dear. I've come for the amulet."

"Over my dead body," she hissed.

"Oh, Emily," he chortled. "Your body's already quite, quite dead. But your precious Victor, on the other hand..."

"No!" she cried. She reached for the amulet.

"Don't do it!" Victor yelled.

"I'm sorry, Victor," she said, and then she held out her good hand with the amulet clasped tightly in her fingers.

"Let him go," she said to Barkis.

"I'd prefer that you use the other hand, if you don't mind."

Emily eyed him suspiciously, and then she transferred the object to her fleshless other hand which closed tightly over it. "Happy now? I'll let you have it just as soon as you let him go."

Barkis lunged forward and seized her bony wrist. "Oh, no, I think you'll let me have it now."

"Run, Victor!" Emily shouted. Quickly, Victor scuttled out of reach.

Barkis shrugged, then he savagely yanked and twisted Emily's outstretched arm.

With a loud crack! it came loose, and Barkis stepped back, triumphantly waving the severed skeleton arm in front of him.

"Thank you, my dear. No, if you don't mind, I need to be on my way." Barkis smirked.

"Give that back to her!" Victor grated through clenched teeth.

Barkis looked around. A dozen paces away stood a tallish cedar tree whose lowest branches were well out of reach. He chuckled, and then he savagely tore off the hand and threw the arm up into the tree, where it landed with a clatter. Next, he focused on the skeleton hand itself, pulling off the fingers one at a time and flinging them in random directions into the underbrush. The amulet he placed in his pocket and finally, with a curse, he threw the remains of Emily's hand as hard as he could into the bushes.

"Barkis!" Victor spat, "You are a foul, irredeemable bastard."

Barkis grinned in smug self-satisfaction. "Flattery will get you nowhere with me," he mocked, and then he ran off.

"Oh, Victor," Emily cried. "Leave everything here. We've got to get the amulet back before the Stone turns black."

"No," Victor argued. "We'll take as much time as we need to find every bit. I'm not going to leave any part of you behind."

She protested once more, and then she gave up and turned her attention to retrieving her missing pieces.

"Victor, did you see where he threw the fingers? And the hand?"

He nodded. "I'll see if I can find those."

"And I'll get the arm," Emily added.

They had hoped to retrieve everything quickly, but the fingers took a long time to find. "I wish that they didn't look so much like bits of old tree branch," she said to him in frustration as they searched through the scruffy brushes.

Then Victor had an inspiration. "Why don't you try wiggling one and we'll see if we can find it by the movement, or maybe the sound?"

"Oh, Victor, what an excellent idea," she declared. Five minutes later, Victor tenderly installed the last of the missing finger bones onto her hand.

She looked at her hand and waggled the fingers. Then a tear came to her eye and she looked at Victor.

"Oh Victor, I so much hate being dead," she said and then she started to cry.

He eased her head onto his lap and comforted her and stroked her matted hair while she wept. Eventually, the tears quit flowing and she looked up at him. "Dead people aren't supposed to have tears," she whispered.

"Maybe not," Victor replied, "but you still have a heart, don't you?"

Emily smiled up at him, "And it loves you, Victor."

Victor smiled back and caressed her good cheek. Then a faraway look came into his eyes, and he looked away.

The sounds of rustling came from the bushes behind them. Emily sprang to her feet while Victor quickly grabbed the stoutest stick that he could find.

A small skeleton dog ran out into the clearing.

"Scraps!" Emily and Victor cried out together. The dog ran directly to Victor and jumped onto his lap.

"Oh, Scraps, am I ever surprised to see you!" Victor exclaimed, and then he scratched the dog's bony head. "How's my good boy?"

Emily bent down. "Look, there's something pinned to his collar." She pulled out a note and something that looked like a finger-sized metal sword.

"What does it say?" Victor asked.

Emily wrinkled her brow. "It's from Elder Gutknecht. A warning about you-know-who ... apparently he set off to intercept us and take the amulet."

"Nothing wrong with Elder Gutknecht's sense of timing," Victor muttered sarcastically.

"It gets worse," Emily continued. "Not only did _he_ manage to escape, but apparently, he got at the Elder's book of spells, too. Now he knows the release spell and the Elder thinks that he plans to release that thing - to punish us, and to gain its favor to return to the Land of the Living."

She sighed and handed the note to Victor. He skimmed through it, and then looked up.

"It might not be that bad," Victor commented. "Did you see the map?"

Emily shrugged.

"It's a short cut," he explained. "This path follows the contour of the mountain, but if we take a right-angle detour and go cross-country, we can still get to the Binding Place ahead of him."

She looked off to their left where the ground sloped steeply into a deep debris-choked valley. "You've got to be kidding ... I don't do obstacles so well, remember?"

"And I think I recall somebody telling me how light 'Barrett girls' are," Victor quipped.

"Not that light," Emily said. Not for a miles-long sprint through god-knows-what."

"Well, we'd best get going and pray that the stone doesn't turn black just yet," Victor said.

He turned to the skeleton dog. "Go home, Scraps," he told it. The dog whined and tilted its head. "No, you've got to go," insisted Victor. "Go home."

The small beast whined once again, but it obeyed the order and, with great reluctance, turned and left.

He hoisted Emily onto his back. "Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Giddy-up go," she answered.

Victor turned and started crashing his way downward through the scattered growth and rock-littered ground.

The time passed in a blur as he blocked out everything but the run, putting every bit of strength that he could into moving forward as fast as possible. Eventually he became aware of her tapping on his shoulder and he slowed to a walk.

"Whoa, horsie," she said to him. "You've got to rest."

He crouched down so that she could slide off, and then he collapsed panting on the ground.

Emily pulled out the map again and looked at it. Even though Victor was too out of breath to speak, his eyes held the question.

"We're almost there," she said. "That's why I had you stop. We want to be ready when we confront him at the Binding Place. Do you remember the words that we'll need to say once we get there?"

He nodded.

"Good. Here's the other little gift from Elder Gutknecht." She pulled out the tiny sword that she had used to pin the note to her dress. "Does this look familiar?"

Victor was almost able to talk. "Looks ... like … the General's … sword ... but … ?"

Emily held up her hand to hush him and to spare him from talking further. "It looks like the General's sword, because it _is_ the General's sword. Elder Gutknecht used a shrinking spell on it and when we need it, I'll say the words to bring it back to size."

Victor nodded.

"Let me know when you're ready to go. We'll go directly there and try to take the amulet back, okay?"

He nodded again, then closed his eyes to concentrate on catching his breath. Five minutes later, he was ready - they hoped. Victor crouched down to let her get back on, but she shook her head.

"No," she said. "The ground's not a problem for me anymore, and we won't have to worry about going fast because we're almost there now."

They ran until they were just past the second-to-last corner, and then they slowed down. They took a few seconds to go over their vows, then Emily pulled out the comically tiny sword. "Time to get this ready," she said, and then she pinned it to the front of her dress.

"Let's go."

They managed to make at least three or four steps around the last corner before Barkis spotted them.

"Ah," he said in mock welcome, "just the pair I wanted to see. Look how pretty my amulet is now." He held up the amulet so that they could see it clearly.

The Stone was jet black in color.

Barkis laughed and dangled it from his left hand to taunt them. Then he uttered the black magic phrase. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then something that looked like greasy black smoke began to ooze out of the stone.

"No," Emily breathed in horror. She pulled out the little sword and brandished it at Barkis.

He stopped and squinted to see what it was. When he finally realized what she was holding, he doubled over and started to laugh. "Oh my dear," he snickered. "You'll have to do better than that - at least better than this…" Then he drew his dagger with his right hand and held it at the ready.

"Fair enough," Emily said. She held the sword at the ready. "Simon-says," she said.

As soon as the words left her mouth the miniature sword started to grow and within five or six seconds had regained its normal size.

"Recognize this?" she asked.

He did. "It won't do you any good because you're too …"

At that very moment a small bony creature launched itself from between Emily's feet and rocketed towards Barkis. He kicked viciously at it as it circled just out of reach of his feet, ducking in and out to nip at his toes. "Not _you_ again, damn you!" Barkis growled. He focused more of his attention on kicking at the little beast.

"Scraps!" Victor exclaimed. "Where did you come from?"

Another movement, this one from behind Barkis drew Victor's eye. Just as Barkis prepared to launch a more-carefully aimed kick at the furiously barking skeleton dog, Victoria dashed out of the trees behind him and, timing her moves to coincide with his, snatched at the amulet and tore it from his hand as she passed by him.

"Here, Victor, catch!" she yelled, and then she threw it in his direction. At the last moment, Barkis saw her out of the corner of his eye and swung his dagger viciously at her, but missed. Hastily, she scrambled out of reach. As Barkis recovered from his wild swing, his eyes tracked the silver object as it flew through the air towards Victor. "Noooo," he groaned.

Victor reached out and caught the amulet as Barkis cursed and advanced towards him, dagger held high for the strike. Emily stepped forward between them, sword held high and forward. "Not so fast, you..."

He ignored her and continued his advance, leading with the dagger.

Emily jabbed at his wrist with the sword and, as Barkis stabbed back at it to parry what he thought was a strike, she flipped the sword around in her hand and knocked the dagger from his hand with a short quick backhand stroke.

"Sword trumps dagger," she said, moving forward to step on the fallen knife and keeping her sword held high between them. "You were right about those fencing lessons, Daddy," she said under her breath. "And about this piece of ... " She raised her sword a bit higher towards the glaring Barkis.

Victor stole a glance at the ugly thing oozing from the black stone in the amulet he held. "Emily! Quickly! Move this way and let me have your free hand!"

She backed towards Victor and held her bony left hand as far back as she could reach. Desperately, he seized it and then, as quickly as they could, the couple said their words.

The thing oozing from out of the stone stopped and something that sounded like a shriek came from out of it, an ungodly noise that sounded like equal parts of hate, frustration, and fear. The black cloud-like object hung in the air almost as though it was unsure of what to do next.

The ground shook - a single jolt followed by a low rumble, almost like a distant thunder. Then something else started to emerge from the heart of the amulet, something that seemed like a small tornado and, within seconds, the whirlwind-like thing took on a human form.

The latest arrival turned towards the black cloud and scolded it, almost like the owner of a misbehaving dog. "Get back inside," he commanded it, and then he raised a hand towards it.

Victor and Emily looked at it, and then at each other in confusion as nothing happened. Then, a few seconds later, something that looked like lightning shot out from his upraised hand and struck the cloud directly. It screeched in something that sounded like pain and anger.

"I already told you once. Get back inside." He raised his hand a little higher. A tendril shot out from the black cloud towards Barkis and wrapped itself quickly around him. He struggled, but the thing would not let him go.

"Yes, you can have him if you want him," the Warden said.

The creature reversed its flow and oozed back into the stone, dragging Barkis back inside with it. His screams diminished and then died as the cloud disappeared inside the Stone.

"Maybe it will be better behaved now that it has a pet to torment," the Warden commented.

He turned towards the three remaining people and studied the two dead women, a look of confusion passing across his heavily lined face.

"Perhaps customs have changed in the meantime," he said, "but up to now I've only had couples do this."

Victoria stepped forward. "She is the one who is going," she said. "I just came along to say good-bye."

Emily walked over to her and bent her head towards Victoria and said something quietly to her friend. They talked in low tones for awhile and then Emily asked her one last question.

Victoria straightened up and shook her head. "No," she said. "You've earned your chance to be with him. I've already had mine, and now it's your turn."

Emily sighed with relief.

"But there is one thing," Victoria said. "Something that I want to ask of you."

"Anything," Emily promised.

"Did you know that after our wedding I went to your grave and made you a promise?"

"I do," said Emily. "Victor told me about it on our journey here. You promised me that you would live the life that I never would and have the children that I never could have myself." A single tear formed and ran down her cheek. "And now you want me to make you the same promise?"

Victoria nodded. Emily ran forward and embraced her friend. "Yes, I will. I certainly will."

Then Victoria looked over at Victor. Emily let her go from her arms and she stepped back. Victor stepped forward.

"I'm sorry about how things turned out," Victoria said. "You were the best part of my life up there, and if love alone were enough..."

"I understand now," Victor said. "Emily explained it to me."

Victoria nodded. "It's better this way. Farewell, Victor. I'll always love you. And please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," Victor said. "I do understand." He stepped forward, embraced Victoria for the last time, and then let her go and stepped back.

Victoria turned back to Emily. "The General will be wanting his sword back," she said.

"Tell him it came in handy," Emily replied, handing the sword to Victoria.

"Come along, Scraps," Victoria said, and then she turned and left. They watched her go and, once she was gone, the Warden turned to Victor.

"Do you know there is a price that you will have to pay to keep your lover with you in the world of the living?" the Warden asked.

Victor swallowed hard and nodded his head.

The Warden continued. "I cannot create life nor can the Stone create life. Only the Lord of All can do that and, once he has set the length of a person's lifetime, it cannot be changed. Do you understand?"

"I do," Victor said.

"The lifetime of your lover has been measured, cut, and fulfilled. There can be no way to add more time to your lover's life; it is at an end."

"I don't understand," said Victor.

"What the Stone _can_ do is to allow you to share the life time allotted to you with your deceased lover."

Emily gasped in horror. "No ... " she whispered.

The Warden turned to her. "Miss," he said. "This is Victor's decision and his alone. You cannot compel him; you cannot refuse him."

"I'll do it," Victor said.

"You understand that each day of life that Emily is given needs be taken from your own lifetime and that you will die that one day sooner."

"I do. And, yes, I'll do it - she's well worth the price."

"The power of that kind of love is what keeps this demon safely locked in the Stone," the Warden said. He looked at Emily and smiled. "Don't worry too much, Miss Emily. Holders of the Stone tend to have long lives ... I hate having to find new Holders, so the job tends to be very good for the health."

He paused. "But don't take anything for granted; you could live for thirty more years - or die next week. Take one day at a time and treasure the days you do get."

Emily smiled at Victor. "I certainly will."

The Warden paused again. "Are you two ready to go? I'm afraid I need to get back to work … may you share a long life and lots of love."

"And children?" Emily asked, remembering her promise to Victoria.

The Warden smiled. "That is entirely up to you two, I'd say. Good luck and good-bye." He raised his hands.

A whirlwind began to blow around them, gently at first and then stronger and stronger. Even though they didn't feel the wind they could see its effects. As the speed continued to pick up, the world around them faded from sight and everything went dark.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Home Again**

The whirlwind died abruptly, but things remained dark. As Victor's eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see that they were standing in the moonlight at the exact place they had first met years before - at Emily's grave.

"I feel cold," Emily complained.

Victor looked down at her. "Au contraire, my dear," he said. "You feel more than warm enough to me." He pulled off his cloak and wrapped it around her, and then he took her in his arms again.

Tenderly, he lifted her chin and studied her face in the moonlight. No longer was she the grave-worn corpse that she had been moments before - she was beautiful now. Her large doe-like eyes were luminous, shining brightly above a small upturned nose and her long, dark, thick hair fell in waves down past her shoulders.

Emily still wore the wedding dress, but now it had been transformed into something new and fresh - nothing at all like the tattered rag it had been before.

She looked up at him, the question forming in her eyes.

He smiled back at her. "Honey," he murmured, "You are the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen." Then Victor gently lowered his face to hers and he kissed her. And then he kissed her again.

It took Emily an eternity of moments to catch her breath. Shyly, she took his hand and held it against her.

"Yes," he said, "I can feel your heartbeat now." He picked up her left hand and showed it to her. What had been only dry bone before was now covered with fresh dewy skin and he raised the hand to his lips and kissed it.

Her breathing grew heavy, and then it grew ragged, as she started to sob. Victor pulled her tightly to him and he held her as she cried, keeping her close for a long, long time. He held her, soothing her until there were no more tears left for her to shed.

After a long while she found her voice again, and she spoke. "Oh, Victor, I love you, but... "

"But?" he asked.

"Your life... You're giving up half your life for me. For me." Fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

"Emily," he said quietly. "I would rather have half a life with you than two lives with anybody else..."

And then Emily ... newly alive and reborn again ... found that she had still more tears left, after all.

"Come with me, my darling," Victor whispered. "Let me take you home..."

"There he is," Victor said quietly to her the next morning.

Walter was in his customary place, staring out at the sea.

Without a word, Victor motioned to Emily to remain behind the little hut, and then he walked around to the front.

"Good morning, Walter," Victor said quietly.

It took a few seconds for the Captain to pull himself away from his thoughts. The old man slowly turned his head to look at Victor and, after a few more seconds, a look of recognition dawned in his eyes.

"Hello, Victor," he mumbled.

"How are you today?" Victor asked his friend.

"Fine," Walter answered, after a while. "I feel fine today."

"Good," Victor said to him, a smile growing across his face. "In that case, there's somebody here that I'd like you to meet..."

"Who's that?" Walter asked listlessly.

Victor smiled back towards Emily. "My fiancée - if we can have your permission... "He motioned for her to come around.

Walter looked at Victor. "What are you talking about? What do you need my..." And then he saw Emily.

His face turned white and he gasped for breath. He clawed at his throat for air and felt for a pulse. "Am I dead, boy?" Walter croaked.

"No," Victor grinned. "And neither is she."

"Hello, Daddy," Emily smiled, and then she rushed forward to embrace her father.

"Oh, my girl! Oh, my darling girl!" he cried as their hands met and they embraced. "How could ... how could ... oh ... I missed you!"

There was not much more to be said as they held each other and wept. Looking on, Victor could not hold back his tears either and he cried along with them.

Eventually, father and daughter noticed that Victor was there. "I'll go wait for you in the cottage," he told them, then he turned and walked to the old man's cottage to give them some time alone.

When he got there, the living room cot looked inviting and he was tired, so he stretched out upon it and closed his eyes.

Someone kissed him on the lips and he woke up. When he opened his eyes Emily was leaning over him grinning. "Wake up, silly! It's lunch time."

They took their places at the table and, after the Captain said the blessing they tucked into their meal.

"Mmmm," Emily murmured, "I'd forgotten how good ham and eggs tasted."

"Not the usual lunch menu, but somebody was craving ham and eggs." Walter smiled at Emily. "And there's a lot more where that came from, my dear."

Emily mumbled happily through a full mouth.

The Captain grinned and turned to Victor. "So you want to marry my daughter, do you? And you feel that you need _my_ permission to do that?"

"It would mean a lot to the both of us," Victor said.

"Fellow brings my daughter back from the dead - someone that I've come to know and respect. And you love her ... "

"I'll take that as a 'yes', then?" Victor deadpanned.

"If you don't, I'll disown you both. Of course you have my blessing - and congratulations, children... "

Then Walter's grin faded. "Have you thought about how you're going to plan this thing out?"

"What do you mean?"

"First off," Walter counted on a finger. "How are you going to explain _her_? You were there, and I believe you, of course, but ... "

"What would you suggest?" Emily asked.

The Captain looked at his daughter. "Let's come up with a story that people will believe. I'm not known all that well in these parts ... who's to say that I might not have a niece - one also named Emily - who just happens to bear an amazing coincidental resemblance to her dear, departed namesake?"

"I don't know about that," said Emily.

"Sounds a bit devious to me," added Victor.

"How would you like to treated like a monster for the rest of your life?" he asked his daughter. "A zombie or maybe some kind of ghoul? And, if not you, then how about your children? If you've got a better idea... "

She didn't. Neither did Victor, so they finally nodded in reluctant agreement.

"We'll have to find somebody to do the wedding ceremony," commented Victor, changing the subject. "I don't know what Pastor Galswells is going to say about that, but..."

"Well, I can guess," said Walter. "Unless he's changed over the last twenty years?"

Victor laughed and shook his head.

"I was thinking about an alternative plan," the Captain said. "But he is an important member of the community, so we should give him a chance."

"I don't know," mumbled Victor.

"Let me talk to him," Walter said. "Maybe I can persuade him to be reasonable."

He pushed his plate back and stood up. "Well, I'd best do a bit of straightening up."

"I could do that," Victor piped up. "Then you could have a chance to visit some more with Emily."

"Thanks," replied Walter. Then he turned to his daughter. "But - if you don't mind, my dear - what I ought to do is to lie down for a bit. It's been a long morning … and then we can go out for a walk later if you like."

"Okay," she answered brightly. Then the Captain nodded his thanks to Victor and shuffled off to his cot.

"This is nice," Emily commented to Victor later as they worked on the lunch dishes together. "I really like this."

"Me, too." He nodded in the direction of her sleeping father. "And I've never seen a man happier."

"You were right back there," she sighed. "He was so hard on himself all these years. I'm glad that I had the chance to talk to him, and to set him straight."

"It's what he wanted most," Victor commented. "To talk to you and tell you what was on his heart."

"He did," she smiled. "He most certainly did that."

They worked in comfortable silence for awhile, and then a questioning look came across Victor's face.

"What is it, Darling?" Emily asked.

"Nothing, really," Victor replied. "I was just wondering..."

"Wondering what, dear?"

"It's quite silly, really," Victor said. "I was just wondering why Victoria showed up when she did - and with Scraps. She was the last one I would have expected to see."

"Oh, I can tell you that," Emily replied.

"How?"

"Do you remember the little chat I had with her at the end?" Emily asked.

He did.

"I asked her about that myself," she said

"And?"

"And it turned out that she had left right after Elder Gutknecht sent Scraps out. When she met him coming back, she had him come along to show her the way."

" She must have followed the same detour we did," Victor mused.

Emily shook her head. "She circled around us while we were looking for my arm and fingers, and then she chased him all the way there. And when we showed up, she made her move."

"Lucky for us," Victor said. "I wish I'd thought of thanking her for that."

"Don't worry, I did," Emily replied. "And, believe me, she was quite happy to do it ... "

Victor nodded. "I'll bet."

The sounds of stirring came from the cot. "Uh-oh. It sounds like Daddy's getting up," Emily commented. "I'd better give you this before we go..."

She leaned over and gave him a long and very, very friendly kiss.

"Oh my," he said.

"Pardon my enthusiasm," she giggled.

He took a deep wavering breath, and then answered.

"I really like your enthusiasm."

"Ah, Mister Van Dort, you are a surprising man," rumbled old Pastor Galswells during their interview two days later, "but congratulations."

"So Captain Barrett has explained everything to you?" Victor asked.

The Pastor nodded and gave Emily a strange look. She smiled back nervously. "He has. And Miss Barrett will be - welcome - to worship with us, as soon as we ... "

The Captain cut him off. "If you could excuse us for a few minutes, I need to have a quick word alone with my family."

"Hmmph!" the Pastor snorted. "If you must ..."

"Thank you," Walter said, and then he ushered the other two outside.

"That went surprisingly well," Victor commented. Emily nodded in bemused agreement.

The Captain sighed and thrust his hands in his pockets. "I haven't had the chance yet to tell you about his conditions."

"Conditions? What conditions?" Victor asked, a note of suspicion creeping into his voice.

"Well," answered Walter, "he wants to consecrate the amulet." Then he turned to his daughter. "And he wants to re-baptize you. With holy water."

"Now, wait just a minute," Victor sputtered, "he can't ... "

"Victor." Emily said softly and he stopped. She smiled at him. "It's worth it to me - I'll do it."

"You can't believe that that mumbo-jumbo of his could possibly make any difference?" Victor objected. "There's nothing wrong with you - nor with the Stone."

"What matters is whether or not _he_ believes it," she said. "If that's all it will take to get him to do our wedding and to let me worship there, I'll do it. And the sooner the better..."

"I don't know... "Victor still wasn't convinced.

"Look at it from his point of view," Walter said. "He genuinely believes that the amulet is cursed. And God only knows what he must think of Emily..."

"He knows?" interjected Victor.

"Of course he does. But he's sworn to secrecy no matter what."

"How soon can he do these ceremonies of his?" Emily asked.

"He's prepared to do them now," her father replied.

"Let's do it now, then" she said, and she walked back into the church, followed by the two men.

An hour later, they were on their way home.

"I think that he was surprised that nothing happened when he sprinkled the water over you and the amulet," Victor commented.

"He was surprised, you know," answered Walter. "You wouldn't believe how hard I had to work to bring him around."

"How did you finally convince him?" Emily asked.

The Captain grinned. "Apparently the church is badly in need of repairs. And I just happen to have a little extra money handy. So, we had ourselves a chat..."

"You're a horrible man, Daddy," Emily laughed.

"Yup - the very worst," he agreed and they all laughed.

Three days later, they gathered in the church, along with his parents and a few close friends including Hildegarde, the ex-Everglots' retired maid.

"Do you know your vows this time, Mr. Van Dort?" the Pastor rumbled.

Victor's father mumbled something nervously. "Shut up!" his mother hissed.

"Yes, I do," Victor said clearly.

"Then - let's get started, shall we?"

The Pastor nodded to Emily and she held up a lit candle. "With this candle, I will light your way in darkness."

The Pastor bent over her. "I see that we've learned our lesson about trusting this man with a candle," he stage-whispered to Emily. Then he did something never before seen by anyone from the village:

He smiled.

Then he motioned to Victor, who held up his hand and continued, "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows."

Emily smiled and answered. "You will never have to fear the frost, for I will shelter you from the cold."

The Pastor shook his head and mumbled something. She smiled again.

"You will never be left behind, for I shall carry you," Victor said.

"And with my sword and with my body, I will defend you," Emily said.

The Pastor raised his bushy eyebrows.

"With this ring ... and with this stone, I ask you to be mine," Victor concluded. He placed the ring on her finger and the amulet around her neck.

"If there is anyone here who objects to this marriage, let him speak now or FOREVER hold his peace!" the Pastor thundered.

The thin glass windows rattled for a half-second further, and then the church was quiet again. The Pastor paused for another few seconds, and then he finished the ceremony.

"... I _PRONOUNCE_ you _MAN_ and _WIFE_!"

The End


	9. Epilogue

Victor and Emily: Epilogue 

Emily and Victor went on to have a full and blessed life together. Both her father and his parents lived more than long enough to see their grandchildren: first Victoria, and then (two years later) William.

On sunny spring days Emily would take their children for long walks and berry-picking excursions to the cemetery. On those days she would pack a picnic lunch, sit the two of them down by the lovingly-kept grave of their 'Mama Victoria', and tell them all about her old friend.

And, towards the end of her life, she would tell them the story of the Resurrection Stone and of how she and their father had learned for themselves that the power of love was much, much stronger than the power of death.

To this day, their descendants tell those same stories to their own children…


End file.
